heartofdakota.com

Hello,

I just wanted to introduce myself. I am new to this board and I just love what I have seen and read so far. I have a ds who will be 9 in October. He has ADHD and suffers from a very rare form of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis called Morbus Still. We have done MFW Adventures this year and I don't know whether or not I should start with Bigger Hearts or Preparing. He usually is a workbook type kid, but he prefers a more hands-on approach for history, science, and bible studies. He is not very creative and he has a hard time with writing. We try narration and copy work -but it is not working well at this time. We have days that can be very smooth and others, I just could pull out my hair.

At times, I feel like ps would be a better choice - but looking at all his problems I know that hs is the way to go. I know that this is what God wants me to do. This is only my 2nd year hs, and right now I just feel so lost. We are doing Rod and Staff Math and English for Grade 2, as well as Phonics Pathways. His reading still needs improvement and lots of times he still reverses letters or numbers.

We won't be done until summer with R&S English. Do you think we should go with Bigger Hearts or the new program called Preparing. MFW does not cover a LOT of American history in their Adventure program - at least not as much as I would have liked. Same goes for science. I just don't want to make a mistake.

So, any inpurt, thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I just feel so drawn to this program - I just don't know where to start.

Thank you so much for reading my post. I have enjoyed all the comments on this board and I feel like this is a wonderful place to be.

Sonja

Sonja,

I just wanted to welcome you and glad that you are here!

I am sorry I can't answer your questions, I am not at the higher levels yet. I know that you will receive some helpful answers and encoragement for you and your son.

Candice

Sonja,

Welcome. I am sure you looked at the placement charts. I would really try to use that to place your child. That being said I am doing Bigger (newly started) with 4 kids, one has cerebral palsy. She reads on first grade level but is age 10. I do all the reading for her and she is loving it. Carrie has a great way of explaining everything and it is a really easy program to pull off.

I am thinking your child learning wise is only affected by the ADHD? And that maybe you guys have lots of doctor/therapy appointments like we do. I think you would find that BHFG is really very engaging and that also you can do it in little spurts if long term focus is an issue. But as far as what level your child is at you would know best. I do not have an intimate understanding of ADHD but I have a friend whose son is affected by it. Going from that he is a really smart kid just has a very hard time focusing. I think HOD would be perfect for that. It's fun and to the point. I would think it would be great for a child that needs to be engaged and loses focus easily. Forgive my ignorance if I am way off base.

Anyway it has been great for my daughter who really has to learn through different pathways than would usually be used. CP is more like specific brain damage. So if areas are gone we kind of have to find new ways to learn. That means that I need something very flexible and very easy to teach plus exciting enough to make her want to fight for the information. She is loving it and it has been a completely easy and perfect fit.

Hopefully there is someone on here who can really do a better job speaking to your specific need. That was my best shot. But welcome and enjoy finding out more!

catwoman wrote:Hello,

I just wanted to introduce myself. I am new to this board and I just love what I have seen and read so far. I have a ds who will be 9 in October. He has ADHD and suffers from a very rare form of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis called Morbus Still. We have done MFW Adventures this year and I don't know whether or not I should start with Bigger Hearts or Preparing. He usually is a workbook type kid, but he prefers a more hands-on approach for history, science, and bible studies. He is not very creative and he has a hard time with writing. We try narration and copy work -but it is not working well at this time. We have days that can be very smooth and others, I just could pull out my hair.

At times, I feel like ps would be a better choice - but looking at all his problems I know that hs is the way to go. I know that this is what God wants me to do. This is only my 2nd year hs, and right now I just feel so lost. We are doing Rod and Staff Math and English for Grade 2, as well as Phonics Pathways. His reading still needs improvement and lots of times he still reverses letters or numbers.

We won't be done until summer with R&S English. Do you think we should go with Bigger Hearts or the new program called Preparing. MFW does not cover a LOT of American history in their Adventure program - at least not as much as I would have liked. Same goes for science. I just don't want to make a mistake.

So, any inpurt, thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I just feel so drawn to this program - I just don't know where to start.

Thank you so much for reading my post. I have enjoyed all the comments on this board and I feel like this is a wonderful place to be.

Sonja

Welcome Sonja! I am so glad you are here. We are finishing up our tenth year of homeschooling. I have four precious boys and 3 of them have learning differences. (Visual & Auditory Processing/ADD/Mild Autism)

I will tell you that you will be so glad you chose this route. I cannot tell you the immense JOY my heart experiences when my boys get something for the first time, because usually we've had to work twice as hard to grasp it.

I think you will love using HOD w/ a child who has ADHD and here's why. Carrie has broken your day up into little bites. Each task is in it's own box. If your son is visual you can show him his day and reward him after he completes each box!

I also think you will love HOD because Carrie is the mommy of 4 boys and it shows in the lesson plans. She has them do fun things like 10 jumping jacks before they say their memory verses OR sit ups.

With the age of your child only you will know what is best, but I will tell you that the two programs I would guess you are considering is Beyond and Bigger?

Carrie told me that the big difference between these two is the amount of writing. So if your son is on track w/ his writing and reading I'm thinking you would be fine using "Bigger", if not you might want to start with Beyond?

However, make sure you take your placement test and talk with Carrie before you make any decisions.

I can't wait to see what you decide!

Mary, who is new to HOD also, but LOVING it!

catwoman wrote:Hello,

I just wanted to introduce myself. I am new to this board and I just love what I have seen and read so far. I have a ds who will be 9 in October. He has ADHD and suffers from a very rare form of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis called Morbus Still. We have done MFW Adventures this year and I don't know whether or not I should start with Bigger Hearts or Preparing. He usually is a workbook type kid, but he prefers a more hands-on approach for history, science, and bible studies. He is not very creative and he has a hard time with writing. We try narration and copy work -but it is not working well at this time. We have days that can be very smooth and others, I just could pull out my hair.

At times, I feel like ps would be a better choice - but looking at all his problems I know that hs is the way to go. I know that this is what God wants me to do. This is only my 2nd year hs, and right now I just feel so lost. We are doing Rod and Staff Math and English for Grade 2, as well as Phonics Pathways. His reading still needs improvement and lots of times he still reverses letters or numbers.

Welcome to the board! At first glance at your post, I would lean toward Bigger for next fall. If you were thinking of starting now, I might try Beyond to ease into things. I think Preparing has much more writing and might be a tough place to jump in-I think it is written for a student who is an independent reader and ready to write more. Here is a link to the placement chart-it is so helpful.
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

I used to babysit and tutor a 4 year old with ADHD, she is such a sweet and bright girl, but takes a lot of energy to teach! I wish I had HOD when I had her, I think it would have been a perfect fit-all the creative ways of teaching I had to wrack my brains for, are already pre-written in Carrie's guides.

For my own girls, I simply adjusted the amount of writing for my 3rd-grader, who was not strong in that area when we started-I did some of the written work, like grammar, orally, and I would simply give her less to copy-if her older sister had 4 lines to copy, I would only assign her 1. We are 14 weeks into the program (Bigger), and she has improved greatly-She now does more than half of the written grammar, and can copy 2-3 lines of copywork well. My older daughter is a copywork addict, and copies things on her own for fun but is not a strong reader, really not quite at grade level, so even though she is in 4th grade, I stopped trying to make her do the extension history/science pack and am using Drawn into the Heart of Reading 2/3 with her, along with a little phonics review.

I think you will find Heart of Dakota highly adaptable to your needs, totally flexible, and chock full of short, to-the-point, purposeful, and interesting lessons. All the best in your decision-making, and I'm sure Carrie (the author) herself may share some words of wisdom with you before the weekend is through

By the way, love your username

Hi Sonja! I'm so glad you are here! I am in the 19th. week of Bigger... right now, and from what you've shared so far, I think that would be a good placement for your ds. I think that your son would love all of the short, hands-on activities. They are well-planned out, and he will be able to do all of them himself, as opposed to watching you do them (this was important to me - too many programs have the mom doing the activity because it is too hard for the dc to actually do).

Carrie is the mommy of 4 boys and it shows in the lesson plans. She has them do fun things like 10 jumping jacks before they say their memory verses OR sit ups.

I agree with Mary here, my son LOVES the physical movement in Bigger... I think your son would too!

He usually is a workbook type kid, but he prefers a more hands-on approach for history, science, and bible studies. He is not very creative and he has a hard time with writing. We try narration and copy work -but it is not working well at this time

.
I think there is a nice balance of workbook type things and more active type things for this age in Bigger... My son is not creative either, but I've been surprised at his creativity with HOD. It is much improved! As far as narration and copywork - they will come. He'll surprise you one day as my ds did. Just give it some time. Bigger... has you model oral narration quite often, so he'll learn so much from that. Also, it does not require any written narrations, which I believe Preparing... will. There are some ideas in the Bigger... guide in the Appendix called Narrating Tips, and they really are helpful for reluctant narrators easing into it more. Those have been soooo helpful to us, and my son really enjoys narrating now.

If you get a chance to look at the placement chart and have other questions, make sure you post more! I'm so glad you're here, and hope you love Bigger... (if that's what fits ds best) as much as we do!

Thank you so much for all of your encouraging posts. I am so glad I have found this board and this curriculum. You ladies are just wonderful. I feel so at home.

I will look over the placement test again with dh. I think we will go with Bigger Hearts for ds. Looking at all your comments so far makes me believe that this would be a much better fit for him/us.

Mary, I really love your blog, and it looks like you and your kids have a wonderful time with HOD.

I'll let you all know which route we are choosing. Until then, all of your comments are greatly appreciated. Thanks again!

Sonja
Mom of ds 9

Sonja,

I just wanted to pop in a welcome you to the boards! We're so glad you're here!

The ladies on the board did a great job of pointing you in the right direction. I would agree that "Bigger..." sounds like the better choice from what you've shared so far. I would love to hear what you think after looking over the placement chart. Here is the link to the chart:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

Even though we use Rod and Staff English 2 in "Bigger...", you could just substitute Rod and Staff 3 in its place. Let us know what you figure out!

Blessings,
Carrie

Sonja,

I haven't even used this curriculum yet (excitedly awaiting the package price changes on Monday so I can order!), but I did want to come on here and just offer you encouragement.

Our son had ADHD and Bipolar disorder, and while I'm not sure where your son is at behaviorally, I will hazard a guess that some days can be extremely stressful just to get ANYTHING done, let alone school, while others are not as bad. I can completely relate to what you are feeling about putting your son into PS and all I can offer is encouragement. We tried both with our son, and we found that the only positive thing he got from PS was the very strict routine - he was in a special class and it made a world of difference (although he "learned" a lot of things I wish he hadn't from the other kids in there!). We then started to adapt that schedule and routine at home and saw a tremendous difference. We still had very challenging days, but at least we knew what would help him.

Our son was just about your son's age - he was 8, so I'm guessing a lot of similar routines and tight schedules may help.

Regardless, I just want to tell you keep on keeping on! You are doing an amazing work and you will see the rewards, even if it is in tiny pieces on some days

Gina